Coil Fabrication and Testing

Coil Design/Fabrication Practices

Electrical Safety
Coil Quality Assurance (Specifications)

Lecture 9
Jack Tanabe
Old Dominion University
Hampton, VA
January 2011

Introduction
Magnetdesignmustincorporatepractices
whichprotectboththehardwareandpersonnel
operatingandmaintainingthemagnetsystem.
Thissectionofthelecturewillcoverpractices
adoptedatLBNLandusedatmanyoftheUS
acceleratorlaboratoriestoensuresafe,reliable
operationandlonglifeofacceleratormagnets.

 Whethercoilsaremadeinhouseorbyvendors,certain
qualitystandardsmustbemettoensurethatmagnets
willoperateasrequired.
Specificationshavebeendevelopedovertheyearsto
ensuremagnetcoilquality.Theseincludematerialand
fabricationrequirementsaswellasperformancetests.
Rules governing electrical safety differ with different
regions. The practices to ensure that magnet systems
satisfy state and federal electrical safety requirements
in California are reviewed.

Hydraulic
Practices
The accompanying figure
illustrates several practices:
Water hoses should be at least
one meter long and use nonconducting material to prevent
current leakage from the
magnet.
The water in fittings should
be smaller than the water out
fittings. Why?
If a flow interlock (orifice
plate) is used, it should be
attached to the return manifold.
Why?

Electrical
Practices
The figure illustrates
some of the electrical
design practices used
in a typical magnet
coil system.

Klixon Thermal Interlock

The Klixon thermal interlock system is a switch which
opens when it senses a temperature higher than its setpoint. The thermal interlock system is connected to the
power supply and is designed to shut down power if a
coil temperature exceeds the interlock set-point.
The normal set-point of Klixons is about 89o C. It will
generally reset at about 70 o C, although a buyer can request
special temperature values for these interlocks.
One thermal interlock is installed on each water circuit. If a
coils has more than one water circuit, multiple interlocks are
installed to protect that coil.
All the interlocks on one magnet are connected in series.

 Interlocks for magnets in power supply series strings may

or may not be connected in series.
If too many elements are connected in a series string, it is
difficult to identify the particular magnet or circuit in that
magnet. This becomes especially troublesome if the Klixon
suffers intermittent failure.

The Klixon is preferably mounted on the water

return lead of the coil. Why?
The Klixon is always mounted on the current
carrying portion of the conductor (inside the
electrical connection bus. Why?
The Klixon is mounted to a block hard-soldered to the
conductor. The interface between the Klixon and the
mounting block is coated with a thermal conducting
paste. Why hard-solder?

Internal Electrical Bussing

Practices for the internal electrical connection separate magnet coils

are used to ensure safe and reliable magnet operation.
Blocks to the connection of busses to the separate coils are hard
soldered to the conductor.
The busses are generally air cooled and therefore are sized so that
the maximum current density is < 1.5 Amps/mm2.
Since the busses are significantly heavier than the coil
conductor, with current density < 10 Amps/mm2, insulating
support blocks (usually epoxy fiberglass) are attached to the
core to support the busses and protect the coil conductor from
damage. No mechanical load should be carried by coil leads.
The interfaces between the busses and the coil blocks are either
silver plated or coated with an electrically conducting compound.
Either split or Belleville (conical) washers are used under flat
washers and either the bolt head or the nut. Why?

 Power Supply cables are

very heavy. The design of
the bus connection to the
cables should be rigid and
rigidly attached to the
magnet core.
The cable-bus interface
should be coated with
electrically conductive
material.
The fastener system
should include a split
washer or other energy
storage device.

Power Supply
Connections
silver plated
or compound
to coil

Belleville (conical) or split

washer

insulator
plate

magnet
yoke

power
supply
cable

Electrical Safety
Normally, an electrical safety inspection
and audit is performed at a facility before it
is allowed to turn on. It is extremely
important that all electrical safety rules and
standards be observed during the design
stage of the project, since retrofit after the
components are fabricated installed can be
extremely expensive and time consuming.

LeadInsulationandCoilCovers
Coilcoversorcarefulcoiltapingisrequiredtopreventdirect
personnelcontactwithanymagnetconductororbus
connectionunderthefollowingconditions:
IV>150VAmperesorI>30AmpsorV>130Voltsorwhenthe
magnetstoredenergyis>5joules.
Coilcoversarerecommendedforallmagnetsregardlessoftheir
operatingconditionsinceitisdifficulttoauditsafetypracticeswhen
manydifferentmagnetsareinstalledinthetypicalbeamline.Thehot
endofthecoilcoolingtubes(thefittings)mustalsobeenclosedinthe
cover.
Safetyrulesrequirethatanyremovablesectionofacoilcovermustbe
attachedbyatleastfourscrews.

Electrical Grounding
Safety rules require all non-electrically powered
accelerator components to be electrically
grounded.
Magnet cores are often assembled from laminations
which may or may not be electrically connected to each
other or to the core structure.
As part of the core assembly procedure, a single weld bead is
often specified, electrically connecting all magnet laminations
together.
A single connection point is provided to attach a metal strap
grounding the magnet core to the support girder or other
ground point.

Coil Fabrication Specifications

Specificationsarewrittentoassurecoilquality
andlonglife.Ifmagnetsarebuiltinhouseor
byvendorstodesignscompletedbythecustomer,
detailedspecificationsmustbewritten.Certain
designconstraintsandtestsshouldbeincludedin
thesespecifications.Thefollowinglistincludes
recommendationsthatmayormaynotbeincluded
inthespecificationsatthediscretionofthemagnet
engineer/designer.

 Thespecificationshouldrequirethatcoilsare
woundinacleanenvironmentandnotinashop
environmentwheremetalchipsarepresent.If
metalchipsareembeddedinthepottedcoils,they
cancauseintermittentshortsthataredifficultto
detectandcanbeextremelytroublesome.
Asinglewatercircuitinacoilassemblyshouldbe
woundfromasinglecontinuouslengthof
conductor.Splicesburiedwithinthepotted
insulationshouldnotbeallowed.

 Hollowaluminumconductorsshouldbetestedfor
leakspriortowinding.Aluminumconductorsare
usuallyassembledfromfourseparatepieceswhich
resultsinaconductorwithfourseamswhichrunthe
lengthoftheconductor.Leakscanoccurinthistype
offabrication.Copperconductorareextrudedfrom
asinglepieceofcopperinaidenticalmannerthat
smalldiametertubesarefabricated.Therefore,one
seldomencountersleaksinhollowcopperconductor.

Usually,theleaktestisapneumatictestwherethecooling
channelispressurizedandthepressuremonitoredfor
sometime(usuallyseveralhours).

 Aballtestisspecifiedforaconductorbeforeitis
wrappedintoamagnetcoil.Thistestconsistsof
usinghighpressureairtoblowaball,nomorethan
80%ofthediameteroftheconductorhole,through
theconductorwaterflowpassageinorderto
ensurenoblockageorcollapsedpassages.
Forlongconductorlengths,orsmallcoolinghole
diameter,thistestisomitted.(Pneumaticpressure
dropscanbeveryhighduringthistest.)
Iftheconductorvendorsupplieslonghollowconductor
whichisspliced,thelocation(s)ofaspliceshouldbe
clearlymarkedsothatthecontinuityofthewater
coolingpassagecanbeensured.

Coil Tests
Animpulsetestshouldbespecifiedandphotosofthescope
traceshouldberequired.
Thetestinvolvesapplyingashortvoltagepulseacrossacombinationof
acapacitorandthecoilbeingtestedandobservingthecurrent
waveformdetectedbyashieldedpickuploopinthecoil.The
waveformwillbeadampedsinusoidaloscillation.Itsfrequencyand
dampingratewilldependontheparametersofthecoilandthecapacitor
inthetester.Theprocedureconsistsofstartingwithalowvoltage
pulse(~10Volts/turn)andincreasingthevoltageuntilonereaches200
Volts/turnor2kVmaximumandobservingthewaveform.Forthe
ordinarywatercooledcoil,therequiredturntoturnvoltageisasmall
fractionofavoltperturn.Thus,impulsetestsatthecapacityofthe
tester(afewkV)ismorethansufficient.

 Animpulsetestisusefultodeterminewhetherintermittent
shortswilloccursincetheturntoturnvoltageduringanimpulse
willexceedthevoltageduringDCoperation.Animpulsetestis
requiredinordertodetectintermittentturntoturnshorts.This
testcanonlybeperformedonacoilisolatedfrommetallic
surfacesandwillnotworkoncethecoilisinstalledonthecore.
Coreeddycurrentsandtheironpermeabilitywillmaskthe
expectedbehavioroftheelectricalcircuit.
Im pulse Test (Low Voltage)
12.5
10.0

Coil Voltage (V)

7.5
5.0
2.5
0.0
-2.5 0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

-5.0
-7.5
-10.0
-12.5
tim e (sec.)

0.05

0.06

0.07

 Ahealthycoilwillexhibitthesamewaveformasthevoltageis
increasedfromtesttotestwithonlyavariationintheamplitude.A
sickcoilwillexhibitwaveformswhosefrequencyand/ordampingrate
changesasthevoltageincreasesorwillexhibithashatthepeakofthe
dampedsinusoid.Adeadturntoturnshortcannotbedetectedwith
theimpulsetestsunlessthewaveformcanbecomparedtoagoodcoil
oftheidenticaldesign.Eventhen,thewaveformofagoodcoilwith
manyturnswillvaryonlyslightlyfromthewaveformofacoilwitha
deadturntoturnshortofthesamedesign.

Im pulse Test (High Voltage)

1.00

"Hash", indicating intermittent turn-to-turn shorts.

0.75
Coil Voltage (kV)

Wave form for a

coil with an
intermittent short.

0.50
0.25
0.00
-0.25

0.002

0.004

0.006

0.008

-0.50
-0.75
-1.00
tim e (sec.)

0.01

0.012

0.014

 The impulse test must be performed on all

coils after potting and prior to installation of
a magnet. Optionally, an impulse test can be
performed before it is potted.
If the impulse test is performed on a coil both
before and after potting, the voltage traces must
be identical for the two tests.
Specifications should require photographs made
of all the scope traces (low and high voltage,
optionally before and required after potting) and
delivered to the customer as part of the Quality
Assurance (QA) documentation.

Null Measurements
Forcoilswithalargenumberofturns,aprecise
resistancemeasurementpriortopottingoften
cannotrevealthepresenceofadeadturntoturn
short.Thistestisinaccuratesincetheconductor
crosssectionmayvary.
Forcoilswithalargenumberofturnsofsmall
conductor,anullmeasurementwithtwocoilsina
magneticcircuitcanrevealdifferencesinthe
numberofturnsoftwootherwiseidenticalcoils.

 The coils are connected in

opposite polarities
The error in the number of
turns can be measured
using a Hall probe.

0 NI 0 NI reference NI test
B

gap
gap
0 I N N n

gap
0 n I

gap

Hipot Test
Afterpotting,thecoilshouldundergoahipottest.The
techniquesusedtohipotvaryaccordingtodesign.
Vacuumpottedcoilswithimpermeablesurfaces,canbe
immersedinsaltedwater.Alessriskytechniqueisto
wraptheinsulatedpartofthecoilinaluminumfoil.
Specificationsnormallycallforraisingthevoltageinthe
coiltotwicetheoperatingvoltageplusonekV.The
maximumdrainagecurrentisusuallysetat2mAmps/kV.

Measurements

Waterflowcalculationsmadeforthepreliminarydesignmaybeunreliable
foracoildesignedwithmanytightturns.Thisisduetotheaddedflow
impedanceoftightradiusturns.Thus,thesemeasurementsshouldbe
madecarefullyattheanticipatedpressuredifferentialavailableinthe
magnetwatercoolingsystemandtheresultscomparedforanumberof
coilswiththesamedesignandwithdesignpredictions.Theambient
temperatureshouldberecordedatthetimeofthemeasurementsincethe
waterflowisaffectedbythewaterviscositywhichchangesubstantially
withtemperature.
Coilresistanceshouldbecarefullymeasuredusingadoublebridge(so
thatcurrentisnotcarriedinthecoilwhilemeasurementsarebeingmade)
andcomparedwithcomputedvalues.Theambienttemperaturewhenthe
resistancemeasurementsweremadeshouldberecorded.

QA Travellers
As part of the Quality Assurance procedure
for coil fabrication and testing, a form
(Traveller) is developed which is filled out,
signed and dated by technicians performing
coil fabrication and testing and signed and
dated by the supervisor responsible for the
fabrication and testing of coils.

 At a minimum, the Traveller contains the following

information:
Coil type and serial number.
Name(s) of individual(s) inspecting and testing conductor
and date of task completion.
Inspection includes leak tests, ball tests (if required) and locating
conductor splices (if any).

Name(s) of individual(s) winding, insulating and ground

wrapping the coil and date of task completion
Name(s) of individual(s) potting the coil and date of task
completion
Name(s) of individual(s) finishing the coil and date of task
completion
Finishing includes lead bending, soldering Klixon interlock
blocks and lead blocks and soldering water fittings.

Coil QA Traveller Data

In addition to the previously described information, the
traveller should include the following measured data.
Impulse test scope photographs at low and high voltages.
Hipot test results.
Maximum Voltage
Measured leakage current (max < 5 Amps)

Water Flow Test Results

Pressure Drop
Flow
Temperature

Resistance
Value
Ambient temperature during measurement

Lecture 10

Lecture 10 collects loose ends which have not been covered thus far.

The subject of stored energy, and magnetic forces are covered in

chapter 7.
Stored energy is used to compute magnet inductance, which is used to
compute power supply requirements for dynamic magnets, magnets
with time varying magnetic fields.
Although other dynamic effects (eddy currents) are covered in this
chapter, this is a broad complex subject and will not be covered in the
lectures.
General principles for reducing fringe fields are covered.
Means of minimizing errors in the magnet integrated field by
chamfering to control the fringe fields are discussed.